Unrecorded paths, including bridleways and urban shortcuts, will be vulnerable to landowners’ fences and garden extensions unless action is taken.
Photograph: Don McPhee for the Guardian

Thousands of footpaths, alleys and bridleways across the UK face being lost forever within a decade under a clause in right-to-roam legislation, campaigners have warned.

From 1 January, walkers, horseriders – and even those taking regular shortcuts to the shops in towns – will have 10 years to apply to save any rights of way that existed before 1949 but do not appear on official maps.

Experts on land access rights say the clock is ticking to save routes that many people take for granted as public highways but that do not appear on official records.

The real worry is [about] rights of way that people are using every day, suddenly they will stop having that right

Dr Phil Wadey, author

The consequences of failing to act could be far-reaching, said Dr Phil Wadey, a space satellite scientist and vice-chair of the conservation body Open Spaces Society. Gathering the evidence and applying for paths to be recorded was “a painstaking and lengthy” business, warned Wadey, who raised the prospect of farmers taking down stiles and putting up fences, and field gates being locked.

A farm track in Dorset. Farmers could gate well-used paths if they existed before 1949 but are not on official council maps. Photograph: David Mansell

A clause in right-to-roam legislation introduced by the Labour government in 2000 stated that any pre-1949 paths must be recorded by 2026 to continue to carry public rights. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act contained a provision that will extinguish those rights if the paths have not been properly recorded.

This could affect popular shortcuts on many housing developments; even if the homes were built after 1949, the path around which they were constructed could have existed for longer and so be at risk. The same applies to “desire lines”, or well-worn informal direct routes.

Given these are unrecorded paths, numbers are unknown, but campaigners believe potentially thousands are at risk. Wadey has made some 400 applications, called definitive map modification orders, or DMMOs, in Hertfordshire alone, including 30 for unrecorded urban alleyways in one district of Bushey.

“These paths are all over the place. A lot of them are actually paths that are in everyday use. They are not hidden. We are not talking about paths that have fallen into disuse. There are actually people walking or riding or cycling along them. But they are not on the official map, so they will vanish if applications are not made,” said Wadey. “People won’t realise until they are gone and then it will be too late”.

Tom Ferwins, policy and advocacy manager of Ramblers, said the walking charity was scaling up its training of volunteers and running workshops offering advice and guidance on how to make DMMO applications.

Time was of the essence, he said, as cash-strapped local authorities faced huge backlogs in processing applications. “We have a rights of way network which is really historic and has been around for hundreds and hundreds of years,” he said. “We do take an awful lot for granted.”

Ferwins said it was essential to legally protect that network of routes to preserve “history, culture, heritage, convenience, and a way of making your life happier and healthier”.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed it was working on secondary legislation and guidance to ensure applications for routes would still be considered if an application were pending after the 2026 cut-off.

Wadey said: “The real worry is [about] rights of way that people are using every day – suddenly they will stop having that right, which means the landowner could close it at any instant. Some old roads, typically unmetalled green lanes, might disappear, as well as your urban alleyways.”

There were lots of instances where the basic route was recorded, but because of changes or inconsistent records, there might be a 20ft gap where a footpath should join a road, Wadey said. “And if you lose that gap, somebody can put a fence across it, quite lawfully.”